I know it's the preseason, but all signs point to a goaltender with absolutely no confidence or ability to stop the puck. He should have been moved after last year's playoff debacle, and now he's worth pretty much nothing. And, with no Vokoun to fall back on, this team is screwed. I hope Sid and Geno can put up four points a game because to win, they'll have to do so with their offense.

I think what is happening on this board is that there are people looking at 'how' he is playing and those thinking that it doesn't matter how he plays, he will find a way to pull it together in the regular season like he does every year.

I was in the latter group until recently, but I'm watching the 'how' and noticing that it looks exactly like playoff Fleury: Completely lost and out of position. Is it a confidence thing or has he just lost it? I don't know but I was one of the people thinking we were just going to go to Vokoun anyway and now that option is off the board which brings a whole new light to this. I am concerned for sure and people on here who are not acting concerned...well, they concern me.

Shero's comments yesterday certainly have a different tone than his endorsement of MAF at the end of last season. It seems that Shero gave MAF an opportunity to improve (psychologist, training checklist, etc.) and the results are not what Shero had hoped for.

The Current One wrote:I know it's the preseason, but all signs point to a goaltender with absolutely no confidence or ability to stop the puck. He should have been moved after last year's playoff debacle, and now he's worth pretty much nothing. And, with no Vokoun to fall back on, this team is screwed. I hope Sid and Geno can put up four points a game because to win, they'll have to do so with their offense.

IF MAF played lights out in this preseason or the regular season are you going to believe he has turned the corner? The only thing that matters is how he plays in the playoffs. He has this year to show he is a number one goalie or he gets moved via trade or buyout.

Anytime someone tries to change their approach to something, they are going to take a step back before going forward again. anyone that thought there was a magic switch that would just fix things is wrong.

Fleury is Ricky Bobby - "because it's what you love, Ricky. It is who you were born to be. And here you sit, thinking. Well, Ricky Bobby is not a thinker. Ricky Bobby is a driver. He is a doer. And that's what you need to do. You don't need to think. You need to drive. You need speed. You need to go out there, and you need to rev your engine. You need to fire it up. You need to grab a hold of that line between speed and chaos, and you need to wrestle it to the ground like a demon cobra!"

When he can get back to just playing and not thinking, he'll be more than fine.

columbia wrote:I'll be concerned until the evidence indicates that I shouldn't be.The onus is on MAF to eliminate the doubts of his skeptics, the most important being Ray Shero.

At this point, he's never going to please the majority of Pens fans. As one of the mods on hfboards said, Fleury could basically stop 40 shots in a 1-0 loss and 90% of people are going to complain about how Fleury cost them the game.

littlemoonboot wrote:I thought Fleury had an NTC, that would have complicated moving him. Pretty much see this year as his "last chance" though. Preseason is preseason, but he has to pull it together.

He does, along with a NMC.

He's also the only goalie in the organization with any NHL experience now that Vokoun is on the shelf. Not only that, but Zatkoff is the only other goalie in the organization with more than 7 AHL games to his credit.

columbia wrote:I'll be concerned until the evidence indicates that I shouldn't be.The onus is on MAF to eliminate the doubts of his skeptics, the most important being Ray Shero.

At this point, he's never going to please the majority of Pens fans. As one of the mods on hfboards said, Fleury could basically stop 40 shots in a 1-0 loss and 90% of people are going to complain about how Fleury cost them the game.

He doesn't need to worry about fan opinions, just what Shero and the other GMs think of him.The terms (and location) of his next contract are riding on his performance over the next two playoffs. Right now, it's not trending towards him getting an improved deal.

I think those are way out of context. This was posted right after the news of Vokoun, so I took this more as "Fleury is going to have to step up because we are losing the guy who was going to play at least 30-40% of the games this year."

The first quote is neither here nor there.

If we had the rest of the interview and it was actually "Fleury is going to have to step up because this is his last chance to prove himself and he hasn't been up to par," I'd say there's a point. Something tells me Molinary paraphrased for a reason... to get people talking about how Shero doesn't believe in Fleury.

I think those are way out of context. This was posted right after the news of Vokoun, so I took this more as "Fleury is going to have to step up because we are losing the guy who was going to play at least 30-40% of the games this year."

The first quote is neither here nor there.

If we had the rest of the interview and it was actually "Fleury is going to have to step up because this is his last chance to prove himself and he hasn't been up to par," I'd say there's a point. Something tells me Molinary paraphrased for a reason... to get people talking about how Shero doesn't believe in Fleury.

That's how journalism works today. Headlines, tweets, etc. are all about creating controversy so they're more likely to get views.